Policy watch March 2007

 

Bihar’s TPDS coupon scheme runs into problems

The Bihar government’s coupon system for the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) to check malpractices and black marketing is facing rough weather. The state government had launched the scheme on January 26, 2007. It had introduced the coupon system to encourage better service at ration shops that distribute essential commodities to families living below the poverty line (BPL). Beneficiaries had to present the coupons to any public distribution shop (PDS) shop, unlike in the earlier scheme where they were confined to one designated shop that often hoarded the subsidised grain and kerosene and sold them in the open market. For this purpose, the state government recently prepared a new BPL list. This initiative was based on information from a March 2005 Planning Commission study, which put the leakages in TPDS and fair price shops at 26.13 per cent and 55.41 per cent respectively. Political parties now claim that the new BPL list is inaccurate and has left out many genuinely poor families. Grain coupons had to be distributed to all Antodaya and BPL families on the basis of these lists, along with coupons for kerosene oil. The state government had launched the first phase of distribution of these coupons to roughly 60 lakh Antodaya and BPL families.

^top


WHO survey: Rising cost of healthcare pushing people below poverty line in India

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) survey, many Indian families have been pushed below the poverty line by the rising cost of healthcare. More than 40 per cent of low-income families in India have to borrow money from outside the family to meet their healthcare costs, says the study on the impact of rising health costs. It found that 16 per cent families had been pushed below the poverty line by this trend. The survey, conducted by the Indian Institute of Population Sciences on behalf of the WHO in six Indian states, also found that 12 per cent of such families had to sell their assets to cover the medical expenses of family members.

For details visit http://www.iipsindia.org/

^top


Planning Commission disbelieves statistics on agriculture

The Planning Commission is sceptical about the rosy picture presented by the Central Statistical Organisation about the 6 per cent growth in the agriculture sector. The commission feels that the projection does not represent either agricultural distress or the key problem areas. “We feel that our final analysis on the low growth rate in the agriculture sector with a 2.3 per cent annual growth rate for the last five years is right and this sudden shooting up to 6 per cent doesn’t take away the sector’s inherent problems,” Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. He was responding to the mismatch of the 6 per cent growth projection and rising prices of farm products and unabated farmers’ suicide.

^top


Bengal government orders land-mapping

The West Bengal government has appointed global consultant Mott MacDonald to determine the distribution of land in the state. The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) has been assigned the task of monitoring the land mapping exercise. Land mapping will be carried out in two phases. In the first stage, Mott MacDonald will identify places, which have roads, water, electricity and mineral resources suitable for setting up industries. Land under agriculture and forests will be identified district-wise. The consultant will also determine the net sown area and the volume of no-crop land in the state. In the second phase, Mott MacDonald will conduct an intense study of the land and come up with suggestions on which areas in the state are suitable for setting up industries. The data that will emerge from this study will help the state government establish an information system on the land based on plot-by-plot verification of land tenure, land use and crop.

^top


MoRD asks states to submit reports on 20-points programme

Union minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has asked states to submit timely and correct reports on the 14 programmes identified under the restructured 20-point programme. In a recent review meeting, Singh also asked the states to ensure strict monitoring of programmes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Indira Awaas Scheme, Swarnajayati Gram Swarozgaar Yojana and alienation of tribal land and land distribution. The Center had restructured the 20-point programme for effective monitoring under the National Common Minimum programme and the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. Out of the 66 programmes identified under the 20-point programme, the Union ministry of rural development deals with 14.

For details on the 20-point programme, click here

^top


Preparation of devolution index delayed

The National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), which has prepared and submitted the devolution index for the Union ministry of panchayati raj, has been asked to redraft the index. Last year, the ministry had asked NCAER to develop a working devolution index for panchayati raj institutions, which would measure the extent of transfer of functions and finances to the elected bodies at the village level through various mechanisms. The index is a first attempt to quantify the environment for effective decentralisation of governance in rural India. According to a senior official with the ministry of panchayati raj, data collected by NCAER was not comprehensive. “Data from the states was not comprehensive. Thus we have asked NCAER to get latest data,” a ministry official said.

To know more about the devolution index click here

^top


Committee for implementation of forest rights bill

The Union ministry of tribal affairs has set up a committee to frame rules for the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. The 19-member committee, headed by retired bureaucrat S R Sankaran, has been asked to submit its draft report within three months. The committee had recently held it first meeting. Members include officials from the ministries of tribal affairs, forests and environment, rural development and panchayati raj, besides representatives of some state governments. The tribal affairs ministry has also revived its Tribal Sub-Plan, which was shelved long ago due non-implementation by state governments. It has now asked states to create a separate head for the plan. The ministry will also develop over 2,700 forest villages, and an amount of Rs15 lakh per village has been earmarked for the purpose. As many as 13 states will be covered under the scheme that seeks to provide roads, electricity and water for these villages.

^top


Parliamentary standing committee to report on SEZ land use

The parliamentary standing committee on commerce is finalising a report on the type of land being used by developers to set up special economic zones (SEZs). The committee is likely to present a report to the Parliament on the level of compliance of approved SEZs vis-à-vis provisions restricting use of double-crop land to 10 per cent of the total acquired area. The compliance report is likely to be presented during the current session of Parliament. Committee members have been visiting various approved SEZ sites in the country for first-hand examination of land being used for setting up these projects. The standing committee decided to carry out investigations following reports of land grabbing by developers flowing in from various parts of the country. In West Bengal’s Nandigram, where the Indonesian Salem group was to set up a textile SEZ, protests over land grabbing took a violent turn forcing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to say that an alternative area for the zone could be considered. The committee’s report assumes significance given the fact that the government is considering bringing about changes in the SEZ policy. At present, the empowered group of ministers on SEZs has put a freeze on all approvals and notifications of SEZs till the time it decides on the changes to be made in the current rules.

^top


Orissa government brings NGOs under RTI

The Orissa government has brought non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the state under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. This has been done to make their operations transparent and accountable. The state government has already framed the RTI rules prescribing certain procedures, forms and fees for the purpose. Stating that certain portions of Section 2 of the RTI Act, 2005, defined an NGO as ‘public authority’ if it is substantially financed directly or indirectly by the Centre or the state, the Orissa government said that as a public authority, an NGO was required to disclose on its own information pertaining to the organisation for information of the general public, as required under Section 4 of the Act. The government announcement comes close on the heels of NGOs seeking information on implementation of various government programmes through the Information Commission set up under the RTI Act. In recent months there has been a spurt in the number of applications seeking information under the provisions of the RTI Act. According to the Planning and Coordination Department press note, NGOs, as public authorities, have to designate a public information officer, assistant information officer and an appellate authority under RTI.

^top


Nicobarese tribals demand settlers leave the islands

Nicobarese tribals are growing increasingly uneasy with people settling on their islands, outnumbering them and putting pressure on scarce land and water resources. They have now formally demanded that thousands of illegal settlers from the mainland leave the islands. Traditionally represented by tribal councils that work along with the government, the Nicobarese have formed an alliance known as the Federation of Tribal Councils of Nicobar and have chosen Jonathan Edmond as their leader. After the tsunami, Edmond refused government help and returned to his ravaged island to rebuild a new village. A declaration said that by coming together, the Nicobarese will have a single platform to interact with the outside world, including the Centre, the local administration and civil society organisations. Edmond recently sent a letter to Union home minister Shivraj Patil stating that non-tribals had come in as wage labourers or retired government servants and had illegally settled down in the islands. The remote Andaman and Nicobar islands have for long been targeted by poachers and pirates, and are geographically much closer to several Southeast Asian nations than to the Indian mainland. Illegal settlements are threatening to overwhelm indigenous people on islands that are supposed to be strictly protected tribal areas. It is estimated that the 30,000-odd Nicobarese have been outnumbered by around 295,000 mainlanders.

^top


Model coconut farms in Kerala panchayats

The Kerala government has decided to set up a model coconut farm in every panchayat. According to the state agriculture minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran, each farm would have a group of 50 farmers. An agriculture officer would be entrusted with the responsibility of running the farm. Moreover, as part of an initiative to encourage organic farming in the state, 100 ‘organic villages’ will also be set up. Agriculture adalats will also be organised in all Krishi Bhavans to address problems faced by farmers, the minister told the state assembly recently.

^top


FCI to issue bonds worth Rs 6,200 crore

In a bid to reduce the growing food subsidy bill, the Centre-owned food grain procurement organisation, Food Corporation of India (FCI), is likely to come out with special bonds worth Rs 6,200 crore. These will be guaranteed by the central government and will fetch an interest of 8.23 per cent per annum. The bonds, to be issued by FCI as the third and final tranche of special bonds, are part of the Rs 16,200-crore special bonds that the Centre has decided to allow FCI to issue over three years in batches. FCI could get only Rs 66 crore from the January 2007 issue of special bonds, which was intended to garner Rs 1,250 crore. However, the earlier tranche of Rs 1,250 crore special bonds issued in November 2006 were fully subscribed. The bonds were issued by FCI in lieu of dues to the tune of Rs 16,200 crore owed to it by the Union rural development ministry for grain purchased for various welfare programmes.

^top


PM appointed committee finds rural indebtedness acute

A committee appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into the issue of farmer indebtedness has found that schedule caste farmers are the worst affected. According to the preliminary reports of the committee, as many as 80 per cent of indebted households in Punjab (where the rural debt problem is the worst in the country) belong to schedule castes and are small, marginal farmers. The committee found that the interest charged by banks and micro-finance institutions is as high as 18-24 per cent even though the government had promised that loans for agriculture would be pegged at 7 per cent. Such high rates of interest coupled with low returns from agriculture means that farmers are always caught in the debt trap.

^top


PM launches BRGF

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently launched the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) in Barpeta, Assam. BRGF aims at bridging regional disparities and will be implemented across 250 districts in the country. The scheme will be implemented through panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) on the basis of district plans prepared by village, middle and district-level panchayats. District planning committees will prepare district plans based on the input provided by these. The fund covers all districts where NREGA is being implemented, and all districts mentioned in an inter-ministerial task group report on backwardness constituted by the Planning Commission.

For more information about BRGF click here

^top


Government bans future trading in wheat and rice

NIn a bid to control rising prices of essential commodities, the government has banned futures trade in wheat and rice. Finance minister P Chidambaram announced the ban during the Union budget (2007-8). The ban comes almost a year after concerns were expressed at the chief ministers’ conference, and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution called for putting an end to trade in essential commodities.

Future trading is a contract that requires delivery of a commodity at a specific price on a specific future date. The Forward Market Commission, which regulates future trading in the country, has stopped giving new contracts. Speculation in the prices of essential commodities because of future trading is said to be a reason behind the high domestic prices of essential commodities.

The Centre has also announced formation of a an expert committee under the chairmanship of Planning Commission member (agriculture) Abhijit Sen for going into various aspects of forward trading in essential commodities that impact the consumer. The committee will submit its report in two months and suggest remedial measures.

The government had recently banned wheat exports in a bid to control the hike in the prices of essential commodities. It asked private and MNC traders to keep away from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and procure their requirements from other wheat producing states such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Centre is also mulling imposing country-level stock limits to keep private and MNC traders away from procurement. It is also keeping the option of paying a higher bonus to farmers above the minimum support price.

^top
Latest

E-Pov: A monthly Newsletter ...
[March 2007]

E-Pov: Newsletter Archives